1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of tailgate sealing arrangements and more particularly to the field of tailgate sealing arrangements for vehicles with flexible tops and tailgates having flat, upper surfaces.
2. Discussion of the Background
Providing effective sealing arrangements between vehicle tailgates and the rear portions of vehicle tops has always presented challenging design problems. These problems are particularly prevalent in sport utility and other vehicles which have removable, flexible tops of fabric-like material such as canvas or vinyl. Co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,235 taught a very commercially successful approach to sealing a tailgate with a vertically extending lip or surface against a rigid crossbar attached to the flexible top. In subsequent modifications, the seal of this patented system was vertically mounted on the crossbar. The vertically extending lip of the tailgate then closed against the vertically extending seal. This patented arrangement had the distinct, commercial advantage that the flexible top did not have to be attached or otherwise secured to the tailgate to be held in place or to form an effective seal. The tailgate could then be opened and closed without disturbing the top. In this manner, the user could move objects into and out of the vehicle by simply opening just the tailgate without having to manipulate or otherwise disturb the flexible top.
In this light, the present invention was developed. With it, the commercially attractive feature of being able to operate the tailgate without disturbing the flexible top was successfully adapted to a vehicle having a tailgate with a horizontally extending, flat, upper surface rather than the vertically extending lip of the prior art.